Nestle and R&R complete the joint venture with Froneri ice cream

Nestlé and Britain's R&R Ice Cream have completed the transaction to create their new Froneri ice cream and frozen food joint, Nestlè said on Monday.

The 50/50 joint venture will combine Nestle and R&R ice cream businesses across Europe, the Middle East, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, the Philippines and South Africa. Froneri will also include Nestlé’s European frozen food business (excluding pizza and retail frozen food in Italy), as well as its chilled dairy business in the Philippines. Operational headquarters will be located in the UK. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. 

The deal had been announced in April, at the time, Nestlé CEO Paul Buckle said: "This is an exciting growth opportunity in a dynamic category".
The company had worked together for the past 14 years, recently in Australia and South Africa.

The company’s board of directors is chaired by Luis Cantarell, Nestlé’s executive vice president, for Europe, Middle East and North Africa and its chief executive is Ibrahim Najafi, formerly the CEO of Yorkshire-based R&R.

“With sales of around 2.6 billion euros (£2.27 billion), Froneri will operate in 22 countries across the world, employing around 15,000 people,” Froneri said. And according to managements, "Froneri will capitalise on complementary strenghts and innovation expertise, combining Nestlé's strong and successful brands and experience in "out-of-home" distribution, with R&R's competitive manufacturing model and significant presence in retail".

Nestlé posted a net profit of CHF 4,1 bn in the first half of 2016, a CHF 400mln drop on the same period last year.